Francois Robert de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion marathon runner.

[3] Rob de Castella attended Xavier College in Melbourne where he was an outstanding track athlete and trained under Pat Clohessy from the age of 11.

[4] De Castella wanted to represent Australia at the Olympics in Moscow and reckoned his best chance was in the marathon.

[7] By the 23 km mark, Ikangaa had taken the lead from his compatriot, with de Castella in the main pack some 250 m behind but closing.

De Castella passed the now-tiring Shahanga at the 38 km mark, and in the next kilometre drew level with Ikangaa and then took the lead.

Eventually, de Castella pulled away and won by 80 metres in a time of 2:09:18, 12 seconds ahead of Ikangaa.

The race was billed as a clash between de Castella and Salazar, who at the time was undefeated, and was also televised live back to Australia.

[10] De Castella won Australia's first athletic World Championships gold medal when he won the marathon in August 1983, beating Ethiopian Kebede Balcha by 24 seconds and Olympic champion Waldemar Cierpinski by 34 seconds.

In 2003, de Castella launched "deeks", a specialist chain of grain and gluten free bakeries & cafés.

[19] In 2004, he earned a black belt in the traditional Okinawan Goju Ryu; he has also been part of a long-running advertising campaign for the multi-vitamin tablet "Centrum".

[14] On 10 October 2023, de Castella was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.